Oklahoma Department of Public Safety looking at cuts

There's growing concern the next state agency to see budget cuts could be the Oklahoma Highway Patrol. <br><br>A state Senate Committee has asked the Department of Public Safety to come up with a

Tuesday, April 29th 2003, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

There's growing concern the next state agency to see budget cuts could be the Oklahoma Highway Patrol.

A state Senate Committee has asked the Department of Public Safety to come up with a study on what kind of impact a 10% budget cut would have. It would mean 152 troopers would be laid off state wide, plus a number of dispatchers and civilian employees would be let go.

Many troopers believe response time could suffer if that happens. OHP trooper Scott McCreary, "The fewer the troopers, the longer it is going to take us to get from point A to point B. We have enough road to travel as it is."

There is some talk of increasing fees for Oklahoma auto tags by $4.50. That would raise an estimated $15-million to offset any cutbacks.

That plan has to be initiated by the Oklahoma legislature.